It's unfortunate that BMW is using the starter to re-start the motor with auto start/stop. The Mercedes-Benz approach for their non-hybrids is non-intrusive and you'd never care about turning it "off" as a feature. When the motor shuts down in the Benz, the stroke on one cylinder intentionally stops full compression. To restart, they just fire the plug and it smoothly spins back up. None of the CRANK-CRANK-SHUDDER in the BMWs.

It's unfortunate that BMW is using the starter to re-start the motor with auto start/stop. The Mercedes-Benz approach for their non-hybrids is non-intrusive and you'd never care about turning it "off" as a feature. When the motor shuts down in the Benz, the stroke on one cylinder intentionally stops full compression. To restart, they just fire the plug and it smoothly spins back up. None of the CRANK-CRANK-SHUDDER in the BMWs.

Wow that seems to make more sense. I'm not a fan of BMWs auto start/stop either.

It's unfortunate that BMW is using the starter to re-start the motor with auto start/stop. The Mercedes-Benz approach for their non-hybrids is non-intrusive and you'd never care about turning it "off" as a feature. When the motor shuts down in the Benz, the stroke on one cylinder intentionally stops full compression. To restart, they just fire the plug and it smoothly spins back up. None of the CRANK-CRANK-SHUDDER in the BMWs.

This is a good point.

I personally do not like the feature, I think it's annoying. I have retrofitted it to my 2008 M3 just for kicks, but keep it off all the time. It also remembers my last setting - this is a coding option located in the IHKA unit called "MSA_MEMORY"

It's unfortunate that BMW is using the starter to re-start the motor with auto start/stop. The Mercedes-Benz approach for their non-hybrids is non-intrusive and you'd never care about turning it "off" as a feature. When the motor shuts down in the Benz, the stroke on one cylinder intentionally stops full compression. To restart, they just fire the plug and it smoothly spins back up. None of the CRANK-CRANK-SHUDDER in the BMWs.

do you have a link for where you got this information from? this is the first time i've heard of MB using this tech. i did read an article about mazda trying to do something like this, but i don't think they ever implemented start-stop in any USA cars. here's a wikipedia article about it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-start_system). they don't go into any detail about MB specific implementations.

I don't understand why they can't do the same for all features in the car. If I get out of the car and the radio screen is on 'menu' then when I get back in it should be on 'menu' when I fire it up. Same with the fogs.

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I don't understand why they can't do the same for all features in the car. If I get out of the car and the radio screen is on 'menu' then when I get back in it should be on 'menu' when I fire it up. Same with the fogs.

Agreed.

What's it to them? I want my car to be in Sport mode, A.S.S. off, etc. by default

I've also noticed that the A/C will automatically come back on, even if it was off at the time of turning the car off.

Can anyone help me understand what the big problem is with this being on by default? If your daily drive involves getting stuck in traffic then I somewhat understand, but it seems like most people turn if off all the time because they are just paranoid for some reason.

My car is due this week. I sent my CA a request to have this coding done before they deliver the car. It would be awesome if sport could be set to "default" and button press back to comfort if desired.

Took delivery of our car Thursday & mentioned this, but they said we'd need to bring it back to have the coding done (maybe they just didn't have time - hopefully you can have this done before delivery...). Got an appt for tomorrow, said 2-3 hrs.

I agree, now we need it for the DDC button as well. Read all the debates about both buttons but for me it simply comes down to this: the car should remember all settings I (we) want - it should do what we say, not what it thinks is best for us/the world/whatever.

Our CA told us that new cars from the factory will at some point start to arrive this way - in other words, it should become standard coding. No exact timeframe but interested to see if someone takes delivery and has this coding w/out asking for it.

Can anyone help me understand what the big problem is with this being on by default? If your daily drive involves getting stuck in traffic then I somewhat understand, but it seems like most people turn if off all the time because they are just paranoid for some reason.

It's annoying, I want it to be off all the time and I'd rather not have to push the button every time I get in the car. Why was it so hard for BMW to just give us this choice? If you find use in the feature than you can use it to your heart's content.

The biggest "complaint" with auto stop/start in BMW's is that it has to crank the motor with the starter when you lift your foot off the brake. And it's pretty "violent" compared to auto stop/start people have experienced in hybrids which use the electric motor to easily restart the motor.

From the MB website:

The engine goes off when the vehicle is stationary and back on again when the brake is released – the ECO start/stop system operates virtually unnoticed by the driver. This is all thanks to complex control functions which run in the background to ensure efficiency, comfort and safety.
How the ECO start/stop system works in detail: as a general principle, the engine is switched off every time the vehicle comes to a standstill (auto-stop function. Restarting the engine (auto-starting function) takes place almost imperceptibly; and moving off without any noticeable time lag compared to a stationary vehicle with its engine running. This rapid action is attributable to two special features: a crankshaft Hall sensor which is able to identify the rotational direction of the crankshaft enables the engine control unit to identify the cylinder in which the piston is ideally positioned for starting. The fuel is injected into this cylinder first, thereby speeding up the starting process. An additional electric transmission oil pump supplies the clutches of the automatic transmission with oil pressure prior to starting, so as to enable a swift resumption of the journey after direct starting of the combustion engine via firing of the spark plug on the ideally positioned cylinder. The starter motor engages briefly, imperceptibly, to complete the auto-start function. The starter motor (starter) has also undergone thorough modification: it is now designed to cope with eight times as many starting procedures, ensuring that it will last a car's lifetime in continuous urban driving involving frequent auto-starting. In addition, the on-board electrical system is supported by a second battery.

Explain how? It isn't intrusive. How does it interfere with your regular driving when you do leave it on?

I agree. It requires you to do nothing. It is trying to save you money. It takes milliseconds to push the button if you want to turn it off. I'm glad they are giving people the option to code it differently but I think I'll leave my soon to be delivered car as is. Plus my car is a 2013. I assume it will have the Gen 2 system in it. Which the press release leads me to believe has been improved in some way?

The biggest "complaint" with auto stop/start in BMW's is that it has to crank the motor with the starter when you lift your foot off the brake. And it's pretty "violent" compared to auto stop/start people have experienced in hybrids which use the electric motor to easily restart the motor.

From the MB website:

The engine goes off when the vehicle is stationary and back on again when the brake is released – the ECO start/stop system operates virtually unnoticed by the driver. This is all thanks to complex control functions which run in the background to ensure efficiency, comfort and safety.
How the ECO start/stop system works in detail: as a general principle, the engine is switched off every time the vehicle comes to a standstill (auto-stop function. Restarting the engine (auto-starting function) takes place almost imperceptibly; and moving off without any noticeable time lag compared to a stationary vehicle with its engine running. This rapid action is attributable to two special features: a crankshaft Hall sensor which is able to identify the rotational direction of the crankshaft enables the engine control unit to identify the cylinder in which the piston is ideally positioned for starting. The fuel is injected into this cylinder first, thereby speeding up the starting process. An additional electric transmission oil pump supplies the clutches of the automatic transmission with oil pressure prior to starting, so as to enable a swift resumption of the journey after direct starting of the combustion engine via firing of the spark plug on the ideally positioned cylinder. The starter motor engages briefly, imperceptibly, to complete the auto-start function. The starter motor (starter) has also undergone thorough modification: it is now designed to cope with eight times as many starting procedures, ensuring that it will last a car's lifetime in continuous urban driving involving frequent auto-starting. In addition, the on-board electrical system is supported by a second battery.

Can anyone help me understand what the big problem is with this being on by default? If your daily drive involves getting stuck in traffic then I somewhat understand, but it seems like most people turn if off all the time because they are just paranoid for some reason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alterbrett

I agree. It requires you to do nothing. It is trying to save you money. It takes milliseconds to push the button if you want to turn it off. I'm glad they are giving people the option to code it differently but I think I'll leave my soon to be delivered car as is. Plus my car is a 2013. I assume it will have the Gen 2 system in it. Which the press release leads me to believe has been improved in some way?

We just recently took delivery of a 2013 X2 28i with the new N20 engine; also equipped with ASS (not sure on the generation). The problem I have with ASS is three fold:

1) If you drive around town where there are a lot of stop signs, you end up experiencing a whole lot of stop-start action. At a stop sign, you only stop briefly. If you're obeying the law, you come to a complete stop, which means you must wait for the car to "settle". If you combine this with taking just a moment to check for oncoming traffic in both directions, you end up with a very brief stop-start cycle that is very apparent from the passenger area (the whole car shudders). My father insisted that something was wrong with our brand new car after experiencing it only one time.

2) Even if the first matter is simply an annoyance, I have now experienced more than one occasion where the engine failed to start in these abrupt engagements. This left the car in D, unable to restart until you follow a specific procedure: apply brake, engage P, press start button. This procedure seems simple, but when you're sitting in traffic trying to figure out why your car isn't moving when you press the gas pedal, it's incredibly frustrating.

3) The stop-start procedure is disruptive to the passengers in our X3 with the 8-speed auto transmission. When the engine disengages, I can feel the car settle back. When it restarts (often triggered while I'm still stopped because of climate control needs), I can feel the car lunge forward. It's unsettling and elicits strange looks from the people around me at the signal light. Call me self-conscious, but I really don't want people staring at me at signal lights because my car keeps turning on and off.

4 [bonus round]) As the car is currently configured, I have to remember to turn off the ASS each time I start the car. Yes, this only takes a moment, but it needlessly complicates the start-up procedure in a car where you're already managing a number of other things like dismissing the iDrive disclaimer, changing the backup camera mode, or engaging EcoPro (which re-enables ASS, btw).

I really like EcoPro mode. It remaps the throttle to encourage less aggressive acceleration, and shows a nice little gauge that indicates throttle position. I improved my per-tank average fuel economy by 3 MPG using these features without ASS. Auto-stop-start technology might be the future, but BMW just hasn't found the right balance. Until they do, I'd like the option to simply turn it off and have it stay that way until I turn it back on explicitly. It's the singular thing about our new X3 that I really dislike. Otherwise, I absolutely love the car and engine.